The price of New York oil hit a record high $115.54 per barrel on Thursday, boosted by falling US energy reserves and a weak dollar, which attracts investors into commodities, analysts said.
New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, later stood at $114.50, down 43 cents from Wednesday’s close as profit-taking occurred.
Also Thursday, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery soared to a historic peak of $113.38. It later stood at $112.22, down 44 cents.
“Crude futures were supported (early Thursday) by last night’s (US oil stockpile) figures and with the dollar still holding near all time lows against the euro,†said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov in London.
“Overall, it is quite clear that investors are not prepared to liquidate oil futures at the moment, with strong fund and speculator interest as they seek better returns in commodities. Read more
The U.S. Air Force used the Fox Three gravel airstrip on Canada’s Baffin Island to monitor Arctic skies for Soviet bombers during the Cold War. Today, Ken Leigh flies ore samples from the site as his company prospects for gold on land that’s freer of ice because of global warming.
The new rush for minerals in the far north is reversing an exodus of the early 1990s. Then, metals prices were as little as a quarter of today’s values, and mining companies abandoned Canada to seek higher returns and lower costs in South America and Indonesia.
Global warming, while making increased exploitation possible, also threatens environmental disasters such as drought and flooding. Tapping the resources will require moving heavy machinery and fuel-laden ships into fragile ecosystems. The potential for oil spills, air pollution and damage to animals and plants has already sparked lawsuits and led Royal Dutch Shell to scale back operations that could have harmed wildlife. Read more
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN): Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras is studying the possibility of oil exploitation in Cuba, according to Director of International Operations Jorge Zelada.
Zelada said that the studies are based on a cooperation agreement signed with the Cuban Oil Company (CUPET) at the beginning of 2008, when the Brazilian president was in Cuba, reported DPA.
The study will look at areas in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
Soltera Mining Corp. is an aggressive exploration company concentrating on carefully selected gold and base metal properties in Argentina, Mexico and Canada. All exploration projects are run personally by Soltera’s President, Dr. Fabio Montanari. Living in Argentina with frequent visits to Mexico, Dr. Montanari has a hands-on approach to operations. He is supported by an administrative office in Canada. The Company’s objective is to have the El Torno gold project ready to start feasibility studies by the end of 2008. For more information please visit www.solteramining.com.
Contacts:
Soltera Mining Corp.
Fabio Montanari
President/CEO
1-888-768-5552
Email: info@solteramining.com
Website: www.solteramining.com
AKTAU / KAZINFORM /Nadezhda Ryabchunova/ “The Colorado Metal Mining University (The US) is expected to take part in the creation of Caspian Energy Hub project,†akim (mayor) of Mangystau oblast Krymbek Kusherbayev said during the II Caspian Investment Forum on April 16.
“Creation of the Caspian Energy Hub, the largest service and technological center, will become an important supplement to the projects, realized within the frame of Earth-Sea-Sky mega project. This project will let achieving a high multiplicative economic development effect,†he said.
Earth-Sea-Sky mega project was supported by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras, BG Group and Repsol have discovered what could be the world’s third-largest oil and gas reserves, Haroldo Lima, director of the National Oil and Gas Agency (ANP), which regulates the sector in the country, said on Monday.
According to the ANP director, the field, temporarily named “Sugar Loaf,” in reference to Rio’s landmark, would be five times larger than Tupi, the giant field discovered in November 2007.
Tupi is regarded as the largest oil and gas reserve ever found in Brazil, bearing an estimated volume of 5-8 billion barrels of light oil. Petrobras’ press office has not confirmed the discovery yet, but informed that the Sugar Loaf field is located in block BMS-9 of the Santos Basin, west of the BMS-11, where Tupi was discovered.
ANP added that the field could not be classified as an “exploitation field” because it has not been declared commercially viable. The first trace of the existence of oil and gas in the field, located in the pre-salt layer, was found in Aug. 2007, but members of the consortium have not released any prospects of its total volume so far. Xinhua
A plan to mine molybdenum near Crested Butte may have stalled with one of the partners in the venture pulling out due to questions about the viability of the project.
U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: USEG), based in Riverton, Wyo., said Monday that its partner in the Lucky Jack molybdenum project in Gunnison County, Kobex Resources Ltd., has terminated its participation in the project.
Kobex (TSX-V: KBX) is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Molybdenum is used to harden steel.
Kobex’s announcement said the company made the decision “reluctantly” because the property “is still considered to be one of the best undeveloped primary molybdenum deposits in the world.”
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